Erie's Orthodox Christians preparing to celebrate Easter

There's a joke among Orthodox Christians for years like this, when their Easter falls after the date on which western Christians celebrated the holiday.

"We get candy cheap this way," said Michael Geanous, a member of the board of directors at Assumption Greek Orthodox Church in Millcreek Township.

While marking Easter later in the year means Orthodox Christians find more sales on chocolate bunnies, it doesn't lessen the celebration of Christ's resurrection after crucifixion.

"It's the most significant holiday on the church calendar," Geanous said.

For members of his church and hundreds of other Orthodox Christians in the Erie area, Easter is Sunday.

Western Christians observed the holy day five weeks earlier, on March 31. The gap, which doesn't occur every year, is due to differing calendars, definitions and calculations for determining the date of the movable feast day.

To put it simply, Easter for Orthodox Christians falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox after Passover.

Western churches use the Gregorian calendar while Orthodox churches follow the older Julian calendar for religious dates. Sunday is May 5 on the Gregorian calendar and April 22 on the Julian.

The churches also differ on definitions and tables related to the moon and equinox, and Western churches don't necessarily wait for Passover before Easter.

In some years, such as 2010 and 2011, Easter fell on the same Sunday for both groups of Christians. That will happen again in 2014. In 2012, their celebrations were only a week apart, as will be the case again in 2015.

Even when the days differ, many of the customs and traditions are the same, including special services and foods.

Orthodox Christians have been holding Holy Week services in recent days, including Good Friday, the day on which Christ was believed to have been crucified on a cross. More services will be held today and Sunday.

At Assumption, tonight's midnight Mass will be followed by an early morning breakfast.

"It usually goes to about 3 a.m.," Geanous said about the combined celebration.

St. Nicholas Orthodox Church, a Carpatho-Russian congregation in Erie, will mark Easter with a divine liturgy Sunday at 10 a.m. A blessing of food baskets will follow, said the Rev. Donald Valasek.

Geanous said the meal at Assumption is a way of breaking the Lenten fast. Traditionally, he said, Orthodox Christians abstain from dairy products and meat during Lent, although some have adjusted that to just avoiding meat on Fridays or during Holy Week.

Valasek said the baskets contain food for the Easter meal, which follows the fast.

In addition to traditional dishes like ham, Valasek said other foods eaten at Easter include Pascha bread, which represents the resurrection and can be decorated with crosses on the top.

Butter is sometimes served in the shape of a lamb, signifying "Christ being the lamb of God sacrificed," Valasek said.